Church Music

This is a hymn from Bob Dufford SJ, and we used to use the first verse and refrain as the the “Lamb of God” when we used his Mass. It had an odd unbalancing effect because, for some reason, it was taken to with surprising vigor and sung more enthusiastically than anything else, so we had a celebration where the high point was the Agnes Dei.

OCP has sample sheet music here and you can hear a sample and buy the music here. They do it very slowly.  This church is doing it more the speed we did it and this piano version fairly rockets along. The whole original can be heard here.

If you get beyond verse one and the chorus the text is for the Easter season.

My backing is a render of an old MIDI I made to try to learn the whole song.

1. Behold the Lamb of God, Behold the Lamb of God,

who carries our burden, who knows our pain,

who bears the sins of the world.

Refrain:

Behold the Lamb of God,  Behold the Lamb of God,

Jesus, Jesus is the Lamb of God.

 

2. Surely he has borne our grief

and carried the sorrows of us all.

Struck down in our stead, rejected and scorned,

and by his wounds we are healed.

Refrain

3. Father, forgive them; they do not understand.

They do not understand what they do.

Refrain

4. The kingdom of this world

has become the kingdom of Christ,

and he shall reign for endless days.

Worthy is the Lamb.

Refrain

© Robert Dufford 1985.

I’m scratching my head to remember this, but it sounds like an advent song and is by Bob Hurd. You can hear a sample and buy the sheet music at OCP.

My backing is fake church organ.

Refrain

Await the Lord with hope.

Await the Lord with joy.

Keep vigil for the coming of the reign of God.

 

1. Those who wait for God:

They shall not be put to shame.

 

2. Prepare a way for the Lord,

A path of justice for our God.

 

3. Let your hearts be strong,

For the Lord is coming soon.

 

4. Daughter Zion, rejoice;

The Lord your God is in your midst.

 

5. Blessed are those who believe

that God’s promise shall come true.

 

© Bob Hurd 1996.

This is one of the highlights of Holy Thursday liturgies for me.  A song that can be as long as you need to have as many feet washed as you could possibly want.  Dan Schutte has written a devious and memorable tune with a text based on John 13-16. OCP has a sample of the music to view here, and you can buy it here.

This is the original. This is a church doing it well.

Refrain

I, your Lord and Master, now become your servant.

I who made the moon and stars will kneel to wash you feet.

This is my commandment: to love as I have loved you.

Kneel to wash each others feet as I have done for you.

Verse 1

All the world will know you are my disciples

By the love that you offer, the kindness you show.

You have heard the voice of God in the words that I have spoken.

You beheld heaven’s glory and have seen the face of God.

Refrain

Verse 2

I must leave you now only for a moment.

I must go to the Father to make you a home.

On the day of my return, I will come to take you with me

To the place I have promised where your joy will have no end.

Refrain

Verse 3

I am like a vine you are like the branches.

If you cling to my teaching you surely will live.

If you make your home in me, I will come to dwell within you.

You can count on my mercy when you ask for what you need.

Refrain

Verse 4

I have called you friends, now no longer servants.

What I told you in secret, the world longs to know.

There can be no greater love than to give your life for others.

As the Father has loved me, so I love you as my own.

Refrain

Verse 5

You will weep for now while the world rejoices.

But the tears of your sorrow will soon turn to joy.

As a mother cries in childbirth and her pain is turned to gladness,

You will know great rejoicing on the day of my return.

Refrain

Verse 6

I will give you peace; this will be my blessing.

Though the world churns around you, I leave you my peace.

I have told you all these things that my peace may dwell within you.

Let your faith be unshaken and your hope ever strong.

Refrain

© Daniel Schutte 2001.

This is a restrained hymn from Estelle White. We’ve used it a lot but it can be very dreary if not done with care. You can listen to a solo vocals of the song here and here.

It was in a collection called 20th Century Folk Hymnal and I recall we had a tattered handwritten copy at church that I transcribed on an ancient notation program in the Win98 era. I gather McCrimmons hold the publishing rights but I’m not sure if you can get it from them.

My backing is at 96 bpm.

Oh, the love of my Lord is the essence
Of all that I love here on earth.
All the beauty I see, He has given to me,
And his giving is gentle as silence.

Every day, every hour, every moment,
Have been blessed by the strength of His love.
At the turn of each tide, He is there at my side,
And his touch is as gentle as silence.

There’ve been times when I’ve turned from his presence,
And I’ve walked other paths, other ways,
But I’ve called on his name, in the dark of my shame
And his mercy was gentle as silence.

© McCrimmon Publishing

I think we did this for Holy Thursday one year.  It is by Fred Pratt Green and the tune is a waltz version of “The Water is Wide” (O Waly Waly). Listen to a solo vocal version here. You should seek the music from the publisher if you need it.

My backing is 54 bpm and it needs to be that slow.

1. An upper room did our Lord prepare
   for those he loved until the end:
   and his disciples still gather there,
   to celebrate their Risen Friend.
2. A lasting gift Jesus gave his own,
   to share his bread, his loving cup.
   Whatever burdens may bow us down,
   he by his Cross shall lift us up.
3. And after Supper he washed their feet,
   for service, too, is sacrament.
   In him our joy shall be made complete
   sent out to serve, as he was sent.
4. No end there is! We depart in peace.
   He loves beyond our uttermost:
   in every room in our Father’s house
   he will be there, as Lord and host.

Text © Stainer and Bell

This is a good song that we have sung often by Tom Conry. You can hear a (noisy) version at OCP and buy the sheet music there. This is an enthusiastic version.

For some reason this always struck me as bluegrass song, although my wife’s excellent taste would never allow this to be used at Mass. My backing is at 95 bpm.

Refrain
We are called, we are chosen.
We are Christ for one another.
We are promised to tomorrow,
while we are for him today.
We are sign, we are wonder.
We are sower, we are seed.
We are harvest, we are hunger.
We are question, we are creed.

1. Then where can we stand justified?
In what can we believe?
In no one else but he who suffered,
nothing more than he who rose.
Who was justice for the poor.
Who was rage against the night.
Who was hope for peaceful people.
Who was light.

Refrain

2. Then how are we to stand at all,
this world of bended knee?
In nothing more than barren shadows.
No one else but he could save us.
Who was justice for the poor.
Who was rage against the night.
Who was hope for peaceful people.
Who was light.

Refrain

3. Then shall we not stand empty
at the altar of our dreams:
When he promised us ourselves.
Who mark time against tomorrow.
Who are justice for the poor.
Who are rage against the night.
Who are hope for peaceful people.
Who are light.

Refrain (long gap before “we are creed” in the last refrain.)

© OCP 1978,1979.

I can only remember doing this song by Christopher Walker and Paule Freeburg once at a school Christmas function. You can listen to the song sung by children at OCP and also buy the sheet music there.

The text is in their sample.

This is an interesting song by John Ylvisaker set to an Israeli tune that I found in a collection that I have lost somewhere (?All Together OK no 374), when looking for something to use on Holy Thursday. I really liked it but the syncopation was a problem for some people and we have stopped using it. Since I don’t remember the name of the collection I found it in I suggest you contact the publisher if you are after a copy of the music.

 1. Lord on the night of betrayal.

there in the heart of the town,

you took the bread from the table,

broke it and passed it around.

“This is my body I’m giving for you;

eat, and remember the one you love.

This is the way I restore you;

this is a gift from above.”

Chorus

“Always remember me!

Freely remember me!

Speak of me tenderly!

Always remember me!”  (twice)

2. Then, with a word of thanksgiving,

slowly you lifted the cup.

Now there’s a reason for living,

now we will know it’s enough.

This is the blood of a holy promise;

drink, and remember the one you love.

Know that my mercy is boundless;

this is a gift from above

Chorus

© John Ylvisaker 1990.

This Carey Landry song is very difficult to do slowly and reverently because there is so little to it and that may be why none of our local liturgy teams has suggested it for years.

This is what it is meant to sound like.

You can buy the sheet music at OCP here.

My backing is at 96 bpm.

Refrain

Abba Abba Father.
You are the potter; we are the clay, the work of Your hands.

Verse 1

Mold us, mold us and fashion us
Into the image of Jesus Your Son,
Of Jesus Your Son

Refrain

Verse 2

Father, may we be one in You.
May we be one in You as He is in You
And You are in Him.

Refrain

Verse 3 (key change)

Glory, glory and praise to you.
Glory and praise to You forever, amen, forever, amen.

Refrain

© NALR 1977,1978.

I made a terrible MIDI file of this years ago and recently I thought I could fix it by putting it through Pro Tools: it is still a fail backing!

Monica Brown’s habit of starting her titles with the indefinite article has bagged her the first two slots in my miscellaneous church music folder. We used to sing this song a lot, and I have no idea why we haven’t used it lately, as it is a very pretty song that sings easily, even with the key change into the fourth verse. Perhaps it is hard for an Assembly to enthusiastically sing “oohs”.

It is a subtle and very usable Eucharist song, showing she is definitely not just a children’s songwriter.

Again, you can go to her Emmaus website and scroll down to “A Special Collection” where you can listen to a sample and buy the sheet music or CD.

My backing is a little faster than she does it and is little altered from a backing I made many years ago.  I have no idea where the introduction in my backing came from, but I don’t think Monica Brown can be blamed for it.

1. God grant to me a heart that remembers,

The life in the seed that is buried in dark night.

All the mystery You have revealed to me

In the tapestry of my life, a remembering heart.  ooh

 

2. God grant to me a heart that is faithful,

As the word is made flesh in the breaking of bread.

The call You speak to me, the song You sing in me

The desire for You, my God, a faithful heart.  ooh

 

3. God grant to me a heart that is grateful,

As the blind one who now sees, sings in praise of Your name.

The gift You give to me, the life You free in me,

All the goodness You bestow, a grateful heart.

 

4. God grant to me a heart that truly loves,

As the one who surrendered His life for His friends.

That I may dare to be more true to You

In the face of all who need, a loving heart   ooh.

© Monica Brown and Emmaus Productions 1991.